Working Nights is Killing My Drive

deacongirl10
deacongirl10 Posts: 2 Member
edited December 3 in Health and Weight Loss
So I am a nurse and work night shift which means that most of my life consists of working, sleeping, and chasing around my one year old son. I am desperately trying to get my diet and exercise habits under control since my son is one now and I need to tighten up my mom bod. However, I find that junk food is easier to turn to when you're utterly exhausted. Also, I'm so tired that I usually opt for sleep over working out, sometimes even eating. I need to lose about twently pounds, but just can't stick to anything diet or workout wise. Help!

Replies

  • Bxqtie116
    Bxqtie116 Posts: 552 Member
    Do you take your lunch (or should I say dinner) to work? If not, that's a start. Pack healthy snacks such as fruit, nuts, yogurt etc so you won't hit the vending machine. You don't need to workout to lose weight as you just need to consume less calories than you put out. Exercise does improve your cardio level and strengthen your bones and muscles, but for now, just focus on your calorie reduction.
  • deacongirl10
    deacongirl10 Posts: 2 Member
    I usually try to eat dinner with my family before heading to work and then grab a snack during the night while on shift. I think meal prep is going to be my saving grace, but I'll have to just suck it up and make some time to prep. I can't keep using "I'm too tired" as an excuse to be lazy.
  • Bxqtie116
    Bxqtie116 Posts: 552 Member
    You are the only one who has to make the decision for how you want to look and live. Take baby steps and progress slowly from there. Start by logging your foods and try to stay within your calorie limits. Once you get that down, then begin to play around with choosing lower calorie/ healthier choice snacks. If you drink sugary drinks, start by reducing that everyday. You'll soon learn that you'd rather eat your calories than drink it.
  • medic2038
    medic2038 Posts: 434 Member
    I know how tough it can be working overnights, AND in healtcare!
    With that being said I think the above suggestion for packing your food is one that's going to be the easiest to stick to.

    I do bulk meal prep on one of my days off, and keep it pretty consistent. Whenever I leave for work (I work 24s) I just toss my stuff for the day in a lunch box and I'm set.

    Definitely know how you feel after a long shift. One of the things a lot of people in healthcare do is overestimate the activity level. We're pretty sedentary, with short bursts of activity. One of the things I've started doing on shift is walking around a bit more in my down time. Like trying to walk around a few minutes every hour or so.

    But I think getting your nutrition squared away will be the most beneficial thing. Fixing that might even help with your energy level.
    You didn't mention your sleeping habits, but I definitely feel like I sleep better at night than I do during the day. If you don't already, try some blackout curtains, and keeping your sleep schedule kind of routine.
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,590 Member
    During what free time you do have, whatever your days off are, pre-prepare nutritious, calorie controlled meals. Freeze single portions ahead for a week. Defrost, heat, and eat. Keep fruit, nuts, and raw vegetables around as well, that you can just grab and eat.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    See if you can work it out to pay for some help at home: babysitter for part of the day or week so you can either get some work outs or get some sleep. Or pay someone to come in to do laundry and other cleaning so that you can focus on working out, your child, your sleep.
  • bshrom
    bshrom Posts: 71 Member
    I work nights and what I find is that if I don't meal prep I fail miserably. I cook maybe 2 times a week and eat healthy for 7 days off of that. If I didn't meal prep I would literally be eating just snacks and junk all the time.
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